The poet Giorgos Kotzioulas (1909-1956) "rewrites" Victor Hugo's Les Misérables in pure and flowing Greek. His extensive, definitive work is being reissued, linguistically and translationally adapted, while preserving the style of the Greek communist creator.

This bulky classic novel, groundbreaking in its conception as it brings the working French people to the forefront, is considered one of the most important literary works of 19th-century Europe. It is a mural of French society, with its contradictions and contrasts, following the French Revolution and the fall of Napoleon.

Setting the action in 1815, climaxing with the uprising of June 1832. The central hero of the story is the former convict Yiannis Ayannis, who evolves into a self-made bourgeois entrepreneur seeking individual redemption in the Christian faith.

The narrative action is dominated by the worker Fantine, with her tragic death. Through her, Victor Hugo captures in the most painful colors the degradation of the emerging working class. In contrast is her daughter Titika, who, after her marriage to Mario, represents the new urban ethics. Ultimately, the hopes of the rebels are expressed by Gavrias, the conscious street child, who takes his last breath at the barricades of Paris.